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The Pride
The lion is the only member of the cat family that live in large groups called prides. A pride contains three or more lionesses. The females are all related, mother, sister, granddaughters, cousins, etc. There can be one or more adult males. The pride may have as few as two adult lions in it (one male and one female), or as many as thirty lionesses and nine adult males and their cubs. Usually there are more females than males. Lions spend most of their time together. The females do most of the hunting and often hunt together. The females also share nursing and babysitting each others cubs. Lions greet by rubbing their bodies and licking one another. Lions have no regular leader however, one of the females lead a pride to a new location. Members of a pride get along well with one another. A prides territory can be from eight to one hundred fifty square miles, depending on how much water and food are in the territory. Males defend the territory and spend a lot of time marking his territory with urine or dung on the edges of the prides territory, this helps to let other lions to stay out of their territory, and if they dont they well be attacked be members of the pride. Ions in a pride have a better chance of survival. They can help each other find water and food and take care of the cubs. They also help protect one another from other lions that can try to attack them. Adult males have a big thick mane that makes him look even bigger then he is. The cooler is usually yellow, brown, and black. A male lion cub starts to grow his mane at the age of nine months old. By four and three years old young males are driven out of their pride and become nomads, and wonder. When they are about five and six years of age they will fight or drive out older males that cant fight as good as them and take over the pride. And the resent males become nomads. The mane also helps protect the males during fights with other males. Adult males have to be apart of a pride in order to get a chance to mate. Females mate with males that are apart of her pride, males know when a female is ready to mate by her behavior and her oder. A males primary role in a pride is to protect their territory and mate with the females. Only the healthiest and strongest males are able to maintain their rule over a pride. An adult male lion may stay with a pride for just a few months or for several years depending on his ability to defend himself. A female lion cub stays in the pride. Some times females will leave the pride and join a male to start a new pride. Most prides stay to gather for many generations. Lions can mate at any time of the year. Males and females can mate when they are the age of three and four yours old. Males can tell when a female is ready to mate by her odor and behavior. He chooses one of the females and go off together for several days and mate many times. When they return to the pride, they no longer show any particular interest in each other. The female may mate with other males in the pride. After a successful mating the female is pregnant for three or four months.
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